Son, Jack, puts into practice the principle in Mark 9:41.
EDITORIAL
Chile has been much in the news of recent date. Earthquakes have shaken it mercilessly for several days. Much of its topography has been literally made over. Thousands have been injured and killed. Millions have been made homeless.
Some, of a superstitious nature, may ask: Were these Chileans greater sinners than the rest of the world, that this terrible thing has befallen them?
Jesus gives His answer to this, in these words: "Suppose ye that these . . . were sinners above all the (others), because they suffered such things? I TELL YOU, NAY: BUT, EXCEPT YE REPENT, YE SHALL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH."
Earthquakes are one of the signs of the end of this age. Jesus said, when speaking of the times just before the end. "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and EARTHQUAKES, in many places.
God gave the Apostle John a vision of the consummation of this age, and this is what he saw: "Lo there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black . . . and the moon became as blood; and the stars fell . . . the heavens departed . . . every mountain and island were moved . . . And the kings . . . great men . . . rich men . . . chief captains . . . mighty men . . . every bondman . . . every free man, hid themselves . . . and said to the mountains and rocks . . . hide us . . . from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come."
My dear reader, let this awful tragedy which happened in Chile be a sign and a warning to you, that the day of the "wrath of the Lamb" is near. "Except ye repent, ye shall . . . likewise perish." Need I say that the mountains and rocks cannot protect you? There is only one safe refuge -- Jesus Christ the Lord. By faith make Him your Savior today.
Sincerely,
Arthur E. Gordon, Editor
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Dear Shut-In . . .
EXCERPTS from
LILLIAN'S LETTERS
Life -- nature is so full of reality, isn't it? I find it preaching me a sermon quite often.
We all have those dark places, when the storms of life rain to the flood stage; and in desperation we cry, "Master! Carest Thou not that we perish?"
Of course He cares.
How often does He have to say to us, "Oh ye of little faith?"
Thank God He's there to be called upon to calm the angry floodtides of life with His, "Peace!" . . . to put a rainbow in our horizon in spite of the raining tears and thundering heart.
In spite of trials and tribulations He peeks in with rays of sunshine, a rainbow here and there, saying, "See, I'm on the job. Use my promises as paddles on your rugged sea: I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Thou art mine. Your sorrows will be turned into joys. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also." (Oh, Praise God. I really like that one.)
Romans 8:28 --
God wants us to use these promises, to eat them, rest on them, stand on them, and to work them. They are tonic for the weary.
If your sea gets too stormy (mine does sometimes,) be still and know He is God.
Occupy till He comes. In other words use First Aid. "Doc" Jesus is on His way.
He'll walk your stormy sea, and it will calm. He'll take care of the details too, such as put the sun out for you, put rainbows in your skies.
He'll show in so-o-o many ways we are remembered--remembered by Him.
If there's anything that will sizzle the devil and put a kink in his operations it's when we haul off and paddle him with God's promises.
Miss Lillian Butt suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Before her illness she was a nurse.
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I LOST
The Greatest Joy I Ever Had
The following article was a letter to Arnold R. Kriegbaum, editor of The Brethren Missionary Herald of Winona Lake, Indiana. It first appeared in the Educational Number of the Herald on February 27, 1960 and is reprinted here by permission of The Brethren Missionary Herald Company. All names have been changed in the article. "This letter is published with the prayer that some soul, young or old, shall see the 'wages of sin,' and turn to the only source of help, the Lord Jesus Christ!"--Editor
Dear Brother Kriegbaum:
This letter will probably be as much of a surprise to you as it is to me to be writing it. Nevertheless, I feel certain you will remember me -- a short period of time -- somewhere about twenty-four years ago. It does not seem possible that this much time has elapsed, but when I stop and consider the events which have occurred during those years, I can readily realize it.
If you will remember the period of time you preached Christ in Walesboro, five miles south of Columbus, I think you will remember me, as I know you will also remember some of the others. It was during this time that I, along with several others, took Christ as our Saviour, and we were all baptized. Our (and especially my own) zeal for Christ and His teachings was so great that we carried it into school. It rubbed off on my own first cousin who was the teacher at the time. Today he is an ordained minister in a Pennsylvania town.
I was somewhere between twelve and thirteen years old then, and the years have flown down the road since, in a rush. It was not long after this that you left for California. You went on to greater things and I went the other way. At about fifteen years of age I suddenly discovered there was another world other than the one I knew, and definitely other than the world you had opened for us. I learned there were movies, girls, worldly entertainment, and other things -- all the myriad fleshly pleasures and desires. As in a dream (as I look back now) I was as suddenly caught up in this world as I had been in the one you had shown us. My interest and curiosity was so great that I forgot Jesus, and turned to explore this new world.
And explore I did! In a few short years I learned every rotten sensation there was. Some I did not partake of in reality, but I did mentally, and this was as guilty as though I had done so in actuality. But whatever, I lost the greatest joy I ever had.
At twenty I was both smoking and drinking. At twenty-two I was home from World War II. I began to drink heavily. I knew nothing about alcoholism; yet I was an alcoholic. The first time I took a drink at eighteen and one-half years of age I'd managed in three and one-half to four hours to get blind drunk! At twenty-two I was married and for four years continued to drink. We had two wonderful children born to us -- a boy and a girl. Our marital status was very poor and got much worse. I drank more. At twenty-five I realized there was an alcoholic problem. I was so far in the maze that Satan had wound about me, I was mentally, physically, and definitely spiritually almost bankrupt.
My wife had been raised in a liberal denomination. I met her pastor, and was so impressed by him that after he'd married us, I joined his church. However, this was not the answer. There seemed to be something missing in his congregation. To this day, I still have the same feeling. I believe now, I know what it is. There is no fellowship among these people. They seem to be missing the fact that they need to let Christ into their lives completely, even as I needed to. Thus, as I ponder it now, I see what I missed there. It was Christ!
Nevertheless at twenty-five, I joined Alcoholics Anonymous. It was a somewhat successful move, for I left alcohol completely alone for four and one-half years. Yet while AA is a wonderful thing for many people, it somehow was not enough for me. The reason was simple: First, I had the desire to stop drinking, but not for myself! For my wife, who by this time was vehement about drinking (small wonder!). And secondly, I failed to turn my life over to God, as one of the twelve steps of AA suggestions. I was still self-willed and held out reservations. Therefore, I did not change. All that changed was the fact that I no longer drank. We in AA call it a "dry-drink." Basically AA is good; it is divinely based, but unless a man applies it completely, and without reservations, it does not work successfully as far as helping the alcoholic to change his whole way of life.
In 1955 after four and one-half years of sobriety, my wife left me. As a man I had not improved. I had merely stopped drinking. After nearly five months I finally gave up trying to be reconciled with her, and then I began to drink again. Two months later my mother died, my father had passed away in 1941.
Then my wife came back, but from October 1955 to December 1959 I drank and while not so heavily as before, I drank. All the old problems were still there and magnified a hundredfold by alcohol.
Our marital relations, which had never been good, were even further strained until 1959 in January when our marriage became a stark, cold farce. We were husband and wife living alone with each other.
A friend of mine had tried to find sobriety through AA. He had failed. Then he was somehow introduced to the Grace Brethren Church in Winchester, Ind. He was converted, and his alcoholic problem was gone. He has passed away since, but he never was again troubled with alcohol until his death. This man tried repeatedly to interest me in his church and in Jesus Christ. But I was too far in the mire to accept this. I used all manner of excuses. I was O.K. I belonged to a church! I was intelligent, I could handle myself all right. And so his efforts went for naught.
More time passed. Home was like a nightmare as I look back now. Finally in December we separated. I left. I immediately got drunk! Six days later I realized suddenly that drinking was not the answer. That evening I was in an Illinois hospital where seventy - some - year-old Mother Margaret has the most famous alcoholic ward in the world. And I went there because I felt I was divinely directed to do so. Actually I had very little to do with it.
And it was there that I found the answer. Not only did I need AA and sobriety, but I needed the Lord. AA alone could never be enough!
Six days later I came back home to find my wife had filed suit for divorce. We are still separated, and it appears she is going through with it. However, I have turned my life over to my Master this time, and I feel that if the divorce becomes final, it will have been God's will.
Quite through accident a few days ago, I met another member of the Grace Brethren Church in Winchester, Indiana. We talked for two hours. He suggested I visit the church and also meet the pastor. So this past Saturday, I called him and we had a talk. Call it coincidence or call it the hand of God, but regardless, I discovered that you and he are good friends. When I learned this, I couldn't believe it.
Last night I attended their evening service. This morning I am writing to you. And so, after twenty-three years, I suddenly awake, as from a deep sleep and know once again that I need Christ. With the Lord's help I am prepared to take up where I left off at the age of fifteen and begin even as a child to study His Word and endeavor to live not as I wish to live, but as He wills. To you in the ministry who come in contact with these stories every day, it probably is not amazing at all, but to me, it is overwhelming.
I have so many things to learn -- beginning with the simplest truths. And I need His guidance every hour. After so many years of living in corruption and self-will, seeking pleasure and actually not knowing what I was seeking, it seems an almost insurmountable obstacle to try to change. But I know that Jesus Christ can change me, and He will.
May God bless and keep you all.
In His name,
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SHOW ME NOW THY NAME
Wilt Thou not yet to me reveal
Thy new, unutterable name?
Tell me, I will beseech Thee, tell;
To know it now resolved I am:
Wrestling, I will not let Thee go,
Till I Thy name, Thy nature know.
What though my shrinking flesh complain,
And murmur to contend so long?
I rise superior to my pain,
When I am weak, then I am strong;
And when my all of strength shall fail,
I shall with the God-Man prevail.
Yield to me now; for I am weak,
But confident in self-despair;
Speak to my heart, in blessings speak,
Be conquered by my instant prayer;
Speak, or Thou never hence shalt move,
And tell me if Thy name is Love.
'Tis Love! 'tis Love! Thou diedst for me!
I hear Thy whisper in my heart;
The morning breaks, the shadows flee,
Pure, universal Love Thou art;
To me, to all, Thy mercies move:
Thy nature and Thy name is Love
My prayer hath power with God; the grace
Unspeakable I now receive;
Through faith I see thee face to face,
I see Thee face to face, and live!
In vain I have not wept and strove:
Thy nature and Thy name is Love.
I know Thee, Saviour, who Thou art,
Jesus, the feeble sinner's Friend;
Nor wilt Thou with the night depart,
But stay and love me to the end;
Thy mercies never shall remove:
Thy nature and Thy name is Love.
-- Wesley
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In Time Of Trouble
by LILLIAN M. SPEAR
A Message To Christians . . .
AT SOME TIME in your life you have no doubt experienced the truth of the Biblical statement, "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." (Job 5:7). You may have lost a loved one, faced difficult circumstances, or suffered physical affliction.
As a Christian, however, you have not faced these troubles alone, for the Bible says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1). You also have this promise, "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." (Psalm 50:15)
Yes, we have the presence and promise of God to strengthen and help us when trouble comes. Yet sometimes, even God's people are overwhelmed by their troubles instead of being victorious over them.
Throughout the Bible we read of men and women of God who faced many of the same troubles we do today. Some were overcomers, while others were overcome. As we study their lives we find some examples to follow and some errors to avoid. Let us see what we can learn from them.
When Job suffered the loss of his sons and daughters, he fell down and worshipped God saying, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 2:21). In the Book of Ruth, however, we read of Naomi who lost her husband and sons. When she returned to Bethlehem, she said to her friends, "Call me Mara (Bitter): for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." (Ruth 1:20)
Job and Naomi suffered the same losses, but Job kept his eyes on the Lord and thus experienced peace instead of bitterness. He saw beyond the grave and trusted his loved ones to God's care. To us Jesus says, "My peace I give unto you . . . let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)
When Jacob's sons urged him to go to Egypt for food, he complained. "All these things are against me." (Genesis 42:36). He had lost Joseph (so he thought) and expected to lose Simeon and Benjamin. In reality he had only lost sight of God's hand which was soon to restore all three of his sons to him. Joseph, on the other hand, learned early in life to trust in his God no matter how dark his circumstances were. Though sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused and imprisoned by his new masters, he could say, "God meant it unto good." (Genesis 50:20)
If everything seems to be against you and you are tempted to sink to the self-pity of Jacob, remember "that all things work together for good to them that love God." (Romans 8:28)
In addition to sorrow and difficult circumstances God's people are often faced with physical affliction also. When Job lost his health his wife cried in despair, "Curse God and die." (Job 2:9). But with characteristic faith Job could say, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." (Job 13:15)
When you are afflicted you have God's Word as your comfort. David said, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes . . . This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me." (Psalm 119:75,50). You also have His grace as He promised Paul: "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
All of these examples in the Scriptures were given for our instruction that we might draw from the encouragement we need in time of trouble. May the faith of Job, Joseph, David and Paul be yours as you trust in the Lord and feed on His Word.
God is your refuge, troubled soul,
A precious hiding place.
He'll give you strength when you are weak
And all-sufficient grace.
A very present help is He;
His promises are true.
In time of trouble call on Him
And He will answer you.
-- Lillian M. Spear
Read more about Lillian M. Spear in her article in the December 1959 issue.
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SHUT IN ALONE WITH YOU
There was much that I wanted to do, Dear Lord,
So much I wanted to do;
But now with most of it still undone,
I'm shut in alone with you--
Shut in alone, but never shut out
From the wonderful power of prayer,
For on spiritual wings I can still send aid
To needy ones everywhere
And sometimes I think as I finger the keys,
Unlocking Thy promises true.
That perhaps I am filling a far greater need,
Just shut in alone with you.
-- Alice H. Mortensen
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SERMON SERIES
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER
No. 11
God's People
I Peter 2:9-10
"THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." Jesus Christ, as the merchant man, came seeking, and found a "pearl of great price." The pearl was His Church which He bought with His own blood. This "pearl," He places in a royal setting, having purified it; and having gotten it for Himself He keeps it as His own private possession. The "pearl" in turn reflects the glory of its Owner.
Christ, when He came, found the "pearl," His Church, in dense darkness, from which He snatched it, placing it in the light of His own countenance. It had previously no standing whatsoever, but He made it the very property of God. It could very well have remained in its past condition, and it would have, but for the mercy of the One who found it and bought it.
Thus we have the summary of our present study.
Now, for more detail.
The "pearl," or the Church is made up of people--GOD'S PEOPLE. In our Scripture we shall see several interesting, and I trust, inspiring truths concerning God's People. First, they were--
CHOSEN
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you . . . " (9a)
Christians, take note! "Ye are a chosen generation," that is, "Ye are a picked-out race of people." God has graciously picked you out from all other sinners to be and to do some marvelous things. Some of these are found in our text. We want first to see what God has chosen us
To Be.
We were chosen by God to be "a royal priesthood." Believers in Christ are indeed priests, as we saw in our last study, duty-bound to "offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually . . . To do good and to communicate" to their fellow creatures; but they are not merely priests. They are "a ROYAL priesthood." They are in God's estimate, and by His provision, of regal and kingly standing.
There has been much talk of the commoner, Mr. Armstrong Jones, who took a mammoth step into royalty. We have something greater than that here. We were commoners of commoners, but have been placed in with the very "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS," destined to rule and reign with Him forever. Can you think of anything better than that?
And yet we do have something better. We have been chosen to the highest moral and spiritual position, as well. We were chosen to be "an holy nation."
Oh, how we tried to be holy! How we tried to be good and to do right in all our earthly relationships! How we tried to be a good parent to our children! How we tried to be a good son or daughter to our parents! How we tried to be a good husband or wife! But, oh, how far short we fell, constantly!
And if this were so in our earthly relationships, how could we ever hope to stand in the presence of God who commands: "Be ye holy; for I am holy?"
Then one glorious day we discovered that God had made provision for this very thing. Christ gave Himself for the Church, "that he might sanctify and cleanse it . . . that it should be holy and without blemish." You can never by your own efforts attain the holiness required to stand before God. But in Christ you are a member of "an holy nation." He is your holiness. God accepts you as holy, in Him. Apart from Him, your own efforts to holiness are a stench in the nostrils of God. Despair of your own goodness; desist from your own strivings; recognize that your only claim to royalty and purity is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Besides being chosen to occupy a kingly position among a holy company, we were chosen also to be "a peculiar people." This doesn't mean queer. Some folks of the world do consider us queer, and some Christians earn the title, but it refers rather to the holding of a unique position with God.
The Greek here reads: "a people for a possession." Thus we are God's people in a unique sense; we are His possession; we are His own property; we are peculiarly His. If this doesn't thrill your heart as a believer in Christ, I don't know what will.
The verb of this word translated "peculiar," carries the idea of someone getting and keeping something for himself. It may also imply the purchase of that which is gotten and kept. Do you get the point, O child of God? You are not any longer your own property, nor do you belong to Satan or the world any more. "Ye are bought with a price" -- even the "precious blood of Christ." Being thus purchased, at such high cost, we have become the special property of God. And of this you may be assured that He who has gotten us at such a price will never let us go.
"A royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people:" these are things we as Christians were chosen to be; but now for something we are chosen
To Do.
"Ye are a chosen generation . . . that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you . . . " Literally, the Greek reads: "in order that you may tell out the excellencies of him . . . " We were not saved primarily to escape hell or to go to heaven, although this is involved, but we were saved to "tell out the excellencies of him who" saved us.
We may not preach like Peter, we may not pray like Paul; but we can tell of the love of Jesus, and that He died for all.
But to "tell out" this good news of Christ, we must first have received Him into our own hearts. Paul says, "For I delivered . . . that which I also received." The order is: first have, then herald. Christ has chosen not only to give us a place of excellence with Himself, but He has chosen also to make His excellencies known through our lips. May we thus "make our calling and election sure."
This brings us to the second consideration concerning God's people. They were --
CALLED
"(God) hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (9b, 10)
"Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called."
When this effectual call came to our hearts, it found us engulfed in darkness. We had no understanding of divine things, no knowledge of our own responsibilities before God. We were living in ungodliness and immorality. Misery as a consequence of our evil ways was overtaking us and promising our eventual eternal undoing. The shadow of death hung over us like a dark foreboding cloud. Satan had blinded our minds. Even the light we thought we had was only darkness.
Then--blessed THEN-- "The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up." It happened just as Isaiah prophesied. Jesus Christ, the long expected Messiah, came proclaiming: "I am the light of the world." The poet echoes the same: "The light of the world is Jesus."
Your responsibility, if you have not yet responded to His call, is: "While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light." For us who have responded: "Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light."
You may be thinking that since God has chosen us to so exalted a position and duty, and called us with so great a calling, that surely there must be in us some latent worth or goodness. On the contrary, the Bible nowhere hints at such an idea. In fact it clearly teaches the opposite. Speaking of the chosen and called, our text says: "Which in time past were not a people." We have here the emphatic form of the negative, so that we may read it: "Which in time past were ABSOLUTELY NOT a people."
My brother, there was nothing in us that drew God to us. If He chose us because He saw in us something of worth, then salvation would not be "by grace . . . through faith." Salvation would then be to show forth OUR praises, rather than His. We would share His glory. We have no right, however, to take any glory for our salvation. We "were absolutely not a people" when God hunted us out. We had no latent "spark of divinity" when He found us and made us "the people of God." It has been said He chose us and called us, not because of what we were, but because of what He knew we would be when He was finished with us--fashioning us in the image of His Son.
Take no credit to yourself then, O earthling, for it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us." "In time past . . . (we) had not obtained (experienced) mercy, but now have obtained mercy." All we deserved like all other humans, was the flames of an eternal hell. All we had to offer God was a huge heap of sin. He would have been perfectly just to have left us in the pit we had dug for ourselves. But, thank God, He mercifully provided our salvation through His own dear Son. "When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
A final word to you who are not saved. This Scripture which we have studied should cause you to see the utter folly of trying in your own strength to obtain salvation. Christ is your only hope of having eternal life. Believe in Him from the heart and thus become God's own possession.
And a final word to God's people. This message should cause you to give "thanks unto the Father, which hath made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the Light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins."
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